U.S. President Donald Trump, who for months refused to encourage mask wearing as a way to combat the coronavirus, on Monday tweeted a picture of himself with his face covered and touted his patriotism.

Trump said "many people say that it is Patriotic to wear a face mask when you can't socially distance. There is nobody more Patriotic than me, your favorite President!"

The accompanying picture, in black and white, showed Trump wearing a dark mask with the presidential seal.

The stylish photo and exhortation for Americans to unite around masks was a far cry from Trump's longtime mocking of masks as symbols of weakness during a pandemic that he has repeatedly suggested is overblown.

However, his tweet stopped well short of endorsing calls from some for a nationwide mandate to wear masks in public.

The nation's top medical authorities – backed by several leading Republican figures – say that mask wearing is crucial to halting the disease.

Amid a fierce resurgence of the virus in southern and western states – including some that are Republican strongholds – Trump has come under new pressure to change his tune.

He only wore a mask in public for the first time on July 11.

By contrast, his Democratic challenger in the November presidential election, Joe Biden, has worn a mask in public for months.

The Monday tweet came as the confirmed cases in the United States surpassed 3.8 million and death toll topped 140,800, according to an update by Johns Hopkins University on Monday afternoon. Both of the figures are the world's largest, leading those of other nations by wide margins.

Earlier in the day, Trump told reporters that he would resume the daily coronavirus briefings at the White House, possibly as soon as 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

"I think it's a great way to get information out to the public as to where we are with the vaccine, with the therapeutics, and generally speaking where we are," Trump said. "So I think we'll start that, probably starting tomorrow."

Trump appeared at the briefings featuring the White House Coronavirus Task Force almost daily between March and April, before the gatherings at the White House West Wing came to a sudden halt.

Vice President Mike Pence and other task force members held the media sessions a few times during the past month when cases spiked sharply in the country.

(With input from Reuters and Xinhua)